Bioprospecting, access and benefit sharing: Revisiting the 'grand bargain'

Abstract

This chapter sets out the wider international context of bioprospecting, access and benefit sharing, and describes the fraught policy process that has evolved since the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992. Notwithstanding the abundance of new policies and laws to control access to genetic resources and ensure fair benefit sharing, their effectiveness has been questionable. The complexity and diversity of bioprospecting activities and commercial players are often poorly recognized, and policy has lagged behind the practice of biprospecting. Moreover, the vast range of issues involved - from trade to conservation, intellectual property, biotechnology and traditional knowledge - has resulted in the policy process becoming a forum for much wider concerns dealing with globalization, corporate behaviour and the disparities between rich and poor. Some of the key issues that remain unresolved in the run-up to finalizing an international regime on access and benefit sharing revolve around compliance, and whether or not patent holders should be obliged to disclose the origin of biological resources and knowledge in patent applications, the scope of the agreement, and whether or not it should go beyond the CBD to address biochemicals and derivatives. Expectations of what bioprospecting can deliver are unrealistic and overly optimistic and no 'grand bargain' has actually been possible. © 2009 Springer Netherlands.